on
T h e S c o o p Wa t e r s
E n h a n c e d m an
L ieb
B y B onnie
chardt
S
& D a v id
T
he beverage industry has made a killing with bottled water.
Thirty years ago, we drank virtually none. In 2003, per capita
consumption hit 47 litres.
Now the industry has contrived a new way to boost sales: “water
beverages” enhanced with vitamins, herbs, antioxidants, and other
ingredients. Sales of fortified water more than doubled between
2005 and 2006—to around $14 million.
As a press release from Coca-Cola (which markets Dasani water)
put it in May 2007, vitamin-enhanced water provides “the highest
retailer revenue per case in the overall water category.”
Next up: vitamin-infused beverages for dogs. What? And let cats,
­hamsters, and guinea pigs drink from the tap?
For the planet’s sake, that’s what we should all do.
Information compiled by Namita Davis in Toronto.
Essentially Worthless
“Enhanced water developed to
­hydrate and replenish the body
with essential vitamins and
minerals,” says the label of Dasani
Essentials Kiwi Strawberry Flavour
Enhanced Water with Vitamins,
Guarana + Ginseng Flavours.
Tip: Any water will “hydrate” your
body. (Hydrate means to add water.)
Dasani doesn’t hydrate any better than tap water.
In fact, Dasani is processed tap water.
Despite the name, the vitamins and minerals
that Dasani Essentials adds to its Kiwi Strawberry
(niacin, B-6, B-12, and chromium) are no more
essential than any others. (Neither is the poorly
tested artificial sweetener ­acesulfame-potassium that
Dasani adds.) You’re better off getting a more com-
The Antioxidant Rag
“Antioxidants help protect the body from
harmful free radicals that can cause cell
damage,” promises the label of Aquafina
plus +.
Protect the body from cell damage?
Sounds like water spiked with two anti­
oxidants (vitamins C and E) and four other
vita­mins (B-6, B-12, niacin, and panto­thenic
acid) can help prevent cancer.
In fact, studies have yet to find any clear
link between antioxidants and cancer or any
other disease—other than the slightly higher risk of dying
Photos: © Kitch Bain/fotolia.com (top). CSPI (all others).
in people who were given high doses of vitamin E (400 IU
a day or more) or the slightly higher risk of lung cancer
in smokers who were given high doses of beta carotene
(33,000 to 50,000 IU a day). Vitamin C doesn’t seem to raise
or lower either risk.
As for the other vitamins, Aquafina probably adds them
because it can. They’re harmless at low doses, and they make
the water look good.
Speaking of looking good, weight watchers may want to
think twice about the 100 calories in each 591 mL bottle of
Aquafina plus +. That’s less than a can of pop, of course, but
you’ll need a half hour’s brisk walk to burn them off.
plete set from a multivitamin than from whatever
these waters happen to toss in (see cover story).
Dasani has one other marketing ploy for its
Essentials Kiwi Strawberry: guarana and ginseng
flavours. The word “flavours” is Health Canada’s
way of warning you that there ain’t much guarana
or ginseng in the bottle. But Dasani may figure that
at least some hasty shoppers will assume that the
water has enough herbs to do something.
If Dasani had more of both, would it even matter?
More guarana might. It’s a plant native to the
Amazon that contains a seed rich in caffeine.
As for ginseng, six small studies by one group of
British researchers produced inconsistent results
on tests of alertness, reaction time, and mental
arithmetic.1
Healthy college students given a single dose of
200 mg of ginseng sometimes did better—and sometimes did worse—than when they got a placebo.
And they scored better on some tests after taking
400 mg of ginseng, but not after taking 600 mg.
So what ginseng does at what dose—and what
that may mean for a 60-year-old brain—is anyone’s
guess.
But it’s no guess what ginseng and guarana
flavours do. They add to Dasani’s bottom line.
1 J.
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N U T R I T I O N A C T I O N H E A LT H L E T T E R ■ J U N E 2 0 0 8
Psychopharmacol. 20: 771, 2006.
HITTING THE BOTTLES
Fibre Water
Clearly Caffeine
What makes Clearly Canadian
If you believe the label, the fibre in Dasani Essen-
daily Energy so energizing?
tials Pomegranate Blackberry Flavour Enhanced
Water with Vitamins, Antioxidant + Fibre can help
It’s spiked with caffeine
“restore and bring balance to your body.”
(80 mg per bottle), just like Vital
How does Coca-Cola get fibre—the stuff that’s in
Lifestyle Water Energize (60 mg)
bran and whole grains—into its water?
and VH20 Vitamins Plus Power
It’s not that kind of fibre. It’s digestion-resistant
Boost (50 mg). That’s about what
you’d get from 5 to 8 oz. of Tim
maltodextrin, which is made by breaking long
Hortons coffee.
chains of carbohydrate from starch into smaller
chains that can’t be broken up (digested) by the
And it’s why Clearly Canadian’s
label says, “helps temporarily
body. According to the government, that makes it
restore mental alertness or wakeful-
a fibre.
Does maltodextrin work like the intact fibre in foods like
ness when experiencing fatigue or drowsiness.”
whole grains, beans, and vegetables? No one knows.
(Vital Energize’s label says the same.) In fact, it
It’s a soluble fibre, so it might help curb blood sugar and blood
could help if you’re on the road and don’t want to
cholesterol. But it won’t keep you regular. If that’s what Dasani
stop for coffee or cola.
means by “bringing balance to your body,” you’re out of luck.
What about Clearly Canadian daily Energy’s
(And the questionable artificial sweetener acesulfame-potassium
“taurine + vitamins”?
in Dasani could throw your body off balance.)
Taurine is an amino acid that supposedly
Can water with maltodextrin help you lose weight by making
boosts physical performance during exercise. Yet
when 17 young men and women took 20 grams
you feel more full than a glass of ordinary water? It’s anyone’s
of taurine a day for seven days, they weren’t able
guess.
to do any more push-ups than they could before
Some shoppers may be impressed by Dasani’s vitamins
taurine.1
(niacin, B-6, B-12, and E), which the label calls “medicinal
they started taking
ingredients.” Don’t be. As long as people believe that it’s only
So the 1 gram of taurine in each bottle of
Clearly Canadian daily Energy is clearly there
the vitamins in a food that matter, companies will keep selling
just for show...just like the water’s vitamins.
us inexpensive-to-make foods with a dusting of vitamins. And
1 Mil.
nothing’s cheaper than water.
Med. 3: 312, 2007.
Much Too Much
To stand out in the crowd, bottled waters contain a
researchers figure out whether 1,500 mg a day or
(mostly random) sprinkling of vitamins. But some
more promotes prostate cancer, as several studies
companies go overboard on some.
suggest.
Take calcium. Many women run short on the
Another problem: vitamin A from retinol
mineral even if they take a multivitamin. So they
palmitate or retinol acetate. Studies suggest that
could use the 235 mg of calcium in a 591 mL
more than roughly 4,000 IU a day may raise the
bottle of Propel Calcium or the 225 mg in half a
risk of hip fractures.
(1 litre) bottle of Sanfaustino The Calcium Water.
Yet VH20 Vitamins Plus sprinkles it in like pixie
(Propel contains the poorly tested artificial
dust: 1,126 IU in every bottle of Dragon Fruit Total
sweetener acesulfame-potassium, so it’s not the
Power, 1,250 IU in every bottle of Pom Grape Revi-
best calcium supplement.)
But men are a different story. They shouldn’t
reach for a bottle with roughly 200 mg
of calcium any time they’re thirsty until
talize and Tropical Citrus Power Boost, and 2,500 IU
in every bottle of Orange Complete Essentials.
And the labels on the 591 mL bottles recommend
that you “Drink one bottle 2X per day.” No thanks.
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